CALLING all amateur sleuths and detectives….
An old wooden mallet was handed in to the Coonamble Times on Wednesday 29 July by Pilliga district resident Austyn McDowell.
It is roughly 22 centimetres wide, with a broken handle.
The so-called Mighty Mallet has an inscribed plaque on it, with the earliest date marked 1953 – almost 70 years ago.
The plaque says, “Presented by REG SLATER inauguration zone 9 October 1953.”
The mallet has travelled all around the state; it started in Orange in 1953 and made its way to areas like Condobolin, Drummoyne, Bourke, Cobar, Parramatta, Maroubra, Walgett and Gilgandra.
The last recorded place the mallet has been is Warren in 1990. The Mighty Mallet’s movements from then are a mystery.
The mallet was found by Mr McDowell when he was helping clean up a neighbouring property roughly 8 kilometres out of Pilliga on the Cypress Way.
“The neighbour was bulldozing old sheds,” said Mr McDowell.
“Everything was just getting burnt and buried and when I saw the mallet, I grabbed it and I saw it had a plaque on it.
Mr McDowell has a few ideas about what the mallet’s purpose was, including as a debating or croquet trophy.
However, with no other information about where the Mighty Mallet came from and what it was used for, the Coonamble Times is turning to the community to see if anyone has any information that would help us fill in the gaps.
Do you know anything about the Mighty Mallet?
Get in touch by email to news@coonambletimes.com.au or by calling the Times office on (02) 6822 1911.